The Obstinacy of the Hunter
by XBrain130
Summary: Last in the "D.D. Hunter" trilogy, also sequel to "Premonition". 30 years since the Numbers Hunt and the defeat of Don Thousand. 15 years since the last time the Tsukumos got in trouble... but that time has come again. With Heartland's Terran WDC Qualification Tournament starting, the danger lurks again for Yuma and his most important people. [Sky, Holyice, Seamirror, Futurechaos]
1. Chapter 1

A starry sky.

One of those stars started becoming more and more luminous. Then, it split in two, revealing a blue and a red star, orbiting around each other. The camera flew past them, approaching a strange-looking object: a swirly energy world, half-cyan and half-pinkish-red.

The view zoomed towards the latter part, and immersed into water, then inside a crack in the seafloor. An emblem sealed the end of the abyss: a seven-pointed object, with an arc on the top, and seven pink gems. The gems started glowing, and the view passed through the center one.

Behind, there was only an empty space, colored purple and yellow. Suddenly, a black shadow appeared, with glowing red eyes. Including one on the waist.

«Enough of waiting.» said the shadow with a very deep, slightly demonic voice. «The time has come.» He formed one black energy ball with his hand. «After 30 years, my power has finally began to regenerate! Now, I can finally actuate my revenge... against Yuma Tsukumo and the Astral World!»

The being pointed his palm forward, and condensed dark energy in front of himself. Another shadow soon formed, and a flash of energy washed away the darkness from it, revealing a human-looking body, laying face-down. Messy brown hair could be see, and it was wearing a white coat. A groan was heard, and the figure raised on its feet.

His eyes glowed pink for a moment, before turning brown. «You...» he said.

«I have just resurrected you. Now, if you want revenge, like me, follow my plan.»

«Revenge... it's a word I like to hear.»

**. . .**

Inside the Emperor's Key Ship, the 96th pillar started to glow and pulse. This caught the attention of Numbers 39, who was patrolling the area. With a finger, he touched the purple number, causing particles to exit from the pillar. They then condensed into a humanoid shape: Numbers 96, much to Numbers 39's surprise.

The golden and black eyes shot opened, and the fiend looked at him body, surprised. «This is... oh yeah, I'm back!» Turning, the black number found himself face-to-face with the warrior number, prompting him to sweatdrop. «Oh, hey! Numbers 39! It's been a while, isn't it?» The yellow and white armored being just glared at him. «Are you kidding me, 30 years?! Don Thousand defeated?! Astral and Varian Worlds reunited?! Yuma's daughter?!»

He put his hands on his head, as if having a headache. «Aahhh! Too much bad news at one time!» Then, something happened to Numbers 96, as his body went rigid and his eyes became glazed over.

«No... the evil god... is not defeated... he... will strike his enemy... and his descendant... soon...» Numbers 96 said in a dull tone, as if he was reciting a prophecy under possession. Then, his body flashed slightly, and returned normal. He looked at Numbers 39. «Why should warn Yuma and his daughter!?» Numbers 39 drew his sword slightly, causing 96 to flinch slightly. «Kh... okay...» His body flashed and he disappeared.

**. . .**

«Oh... Yuma...»

Kotori sighed as Yuma kissed her passionately, pulling her into himself, ignoring the bed sheets clinging to their bodies.

She tilted her head as he softly ran his lips on her neck, while he stroked her other cheek.

From Yuma's Deck, which was scattered on the desk, exhaled black particles, which formed 96's upper body. However, he quickly covered his eyes and disappeared with a disgusted face.

Kotori looked at her husband. «Did you heard something?» Yuma looked at her with a confused face. «What?» The woman closed her eyes.  
«Nevermind...» Capturing his lips, she pulled him down.

**. . .**

Back in the key, Numbers 96 rubbed his eyes. «Uck! The human reproduction is a disgusting thing!»

Turning around, he saw Numbers 39 looking at him. «Yeah, I told him.» lied the demon. «Okay okay, now I'll warn his daughter.» He closed his eyes. «Uhm... she's sleeping...» he murmured, placing his hands on his temples. «I have to appear in her dreams.» His body started to fade in and out slightly.

**[ Insert here the story "Premonition" ]**

After some minutes, he stopped fading, and opened his eyes, with a grin painted on his face. «Done.» He stretched his arms. «Now, if you let me, I'd like to have some rest.» That said, Numbers 96 was sucked back into the pillar.

**. . .**

DAY 1

Yuma scanned the crowd filling the streets of Heartland as the mayor explained the rules to the newcomers. Standing near him were Kotori and some of his childhood friends, and their sons and daughters. Almost everyone in their group took different paths in life, Yuma was the only who became a professional duelist. The only missing was Shark. For obvious reasons.

«We all hope you win, Yuma!» said Tetsuo. «Yeah, show them who's the champion!» said Cathy. «You remember my promise, right?» told him Kotori. «If you lose, I'll never talk to you again!» Yuma gulped, realizing the implications of that. «You're joking right? There's absolutely no way I can lose!» he claimed hot-bloodedly, clenching his fist.

«Heh, you're getting quite old for Dueling. Wouldn't be time for, say, a younger champion?» said a female voice behind them. The group turned, and a big smile widened on the faces of Yuma and Kotori. «Yuko!» they cried, running to her. «Hi, mom, dad!» The three then hugged each other. Yuko was wearing a small purple jacket over a red t-shirt with V-shaped neck, letting to see a white undershirt, a green skirt with the last button undone, a pink ribbon as belt, blue shoes with yellow outline, and black stockings that almost reached up to the hem of the skirt. «What are doing here?» asked Kotori. «Well, since I decided to participate to the WDC, I thought "Why not compete here at Heartland along with dad?"» The man smiled and ruffled her hair. «Tell me, how many tournaments you won?» The young woman grinning in way very similar to his own. «All of them! And my next target is the 7th World Duel Carnival!»

Yuma gained the same grin. «Oh no, I'll be the winner, not you!» The two started smirking at each other, prompting Kotori to sweatdrop. «Like father, like daughter...» she murmured to herself.

«Is this the Tsukumo Grinning Contest or something?» said another female voice. The family turned again, to see another family. «Polari!» This time was Yuko the one who cried. The two girls ran towards each other. By now, Polari had reach the height of a human woman. Her clothing consisted of a long-sleeved white blouse, light-brown belt, cyan skirt, black thigh-length stockings, and brown shoes. A pendant-like Varia Lapis vaguely similar to a winged shield hanged around her neck, a small ribbon kept her spiked fringe up, whose color changed to grey in her human form. «What are you doing here?» asked Yuko. «What a question! I came here to see the Duels of my best friend!»

«Hey Kotori!» greeted Merag. She was wearing a white dress with pink and cyan stripes, grey belt, and a ice spike painted on the skirt, with ornaments attached to the tips similar to her teen outfit, stockings that reached up to more than the hem of the skirt, and white shoes. Also, she wore a ribbon similar to her daughter's, and her hair was longer than when she was teen, having almost reached the length of her Varian form's. Her pin-like Varia Lapis was attached to her dress on the cleavage. «Rio!» greeted Kotori. «Hello Yuma.» said Durbe. He wore a formal outfit composed of a grey vest with a pocket on the left side of the chest and the lapels of a white shirt visible, red tie, black belt, lime-green pants, and dark-grey shoes. His old glasses were still there, and his fleur-shaped Varia Lapis was still on his wrist. «Hey Durbe!» replied Yuma. «Why are you here?» asked Kotori. «The 1st day of the Varian World Duel Carnival will be tomorrow.» explained Durbe. «And Polari insisted on coming here so that she can watch Yuko's Duels.»

**[AN: There's a B/N picture of Merag+Durbe+Polari and one of adult Yuko on my DA profile, just if you can't imagine their clothes. Be warned however, I can't guarantee they are very stylish...]**

«In this regard...» said Yuma, «...hey Yuko, want about a Duel here and now for our first Heart Pieces?» Yuko smiled at him. «Of course no!»

«Eh?! Why?» whined the adult. «Because, wouldn't be better having a Duel in the finals?» she teased. Yuma stared at her for a few seconds. «She definitely has her mother's brain.» commented Yuma. «And her father's obsession for Dueling.» added Kotori. Everyone of their company started laughing.

From afar, a figure with a white cloak watched them. A growl could be heard. «Stay calm. We have all the time. Now we have to worry about the Heart Pieces.»

Yuko looked around. «Isn't Tryga here with you?» she asked. Polari smiled slyly. «No. Uncle Nash is making sure he's training day and night so he will not lose against "some nameless idiot". And, you know, that is not sneaking out with you.» Yuko threw her a weird look. «What do you mean by that!?»

Suddenly, Merag's eyes glowed pink for a brief moment. Turning around, she saw nothing strange, though she felt something in that direction. «Uhm... weird...»

* * *

**I was originally going to write some M-rated writing challenges, but after being stuck with the second for... something like 3 weeks (!), I decided it was time to take a break and try to write something else so to distract myself a bit, and, hopefully, get some ideas about how to destroy my current block.**

**So there it is. Now I have a trilogy. Hooray!(?)**

**Anyway, I'll say it bluntly: I'll skip the preliminaries, because I can't really think about so many Duels, and the finals are already rather hard to plan.**


	2. Chapter 2

**New chapter finally! Now, for the third challenge, I have some difficulties about coming up with a decent plot, soooo... here we are. I wanted to do the finals now, but I felt like to drop a dance for the finalist party. So if you are here only for the Duels, WAIT ANOTHER CHAPTER! HERE YOU WILL FIND ONLY FLUFF!**

**Namely, Sky and Holyice. And first featuring: Seamirrorshipping and Futurechaosshipping! (f you visited Vile's profile, you should know that the former is RyogaxArielTheWaterCharmer. I'll let you guess what is the latter ^.^) **

**I edited the last part of the first chapter because I felt it wasn't right, so I suggest you to re-read it before this one.**

* * *

**. . . 3 Days After . . .**

At the Pre-Final Party, the evening went by quietly, save for the happy song the band was playing. Yuma and Kotori were sitting a table, having just finished to eat their slices of cake. He was wearing a red tuxedo similar to the one of his first time, while her attire consisted of an ankle-length dark-green dress (somewhat darker than her hair), with only the strap on the right shoulder, which was decorated with three electric-blue feathers. She had put a dark-pink lipstick. Excluding some occasional fan who asked him an autograph, they were mostly undisturbed.

Yuma was holding her hand, playing with her ring. «Sometimes, I tell myself how many years we spent together, and often I feel surprised by just how much time it is.» he said, making her smile at him. «Many marriages today don't resist this much, yet there we are, with me babbling at you at a party while our 21-years-old daughter tries to take away from me the title of greatest Duelist of all times.» At this point he earned from her a giggle. «I'm very lucky, for meeting such a... wonderful girl at my very first day of school.

Kotori stared back at him. «Well... the same for me. Obviously, except the girl part.» This time Yuma was the one who chuckled. The two sighed as they recalled all their times together. From a near table, Yuko looked at them with a small smile. She was wearing a knee-length sky-blue strapless dress, a yellow ribbon tied her long hair on the back, and a pink pursue. «They really love each other like a couple of newlyweds...» she sighed, apparently thoughtful.

**. . .**

Astral was sitting near what seemed a bar, Eliphas besides him drinking some kind of beverage. They were looking in an Astrite crystal, which projected an image of his friend. «They really love each other deeply, huh?» asked the bigger, noting the way Yuma and Kotori continued to look at each other. «Yeah,» reply the smaller, «...in a way rather uncommon for humans. Sometimes I wonder what would feel like to have that kind of bond with someone.» Eliphas seemed to look at him with an interested look as Astral spoke. «You never know, maybe in the future you will experience it.» Astral nodded slightly.

**. . .**

Durbe and Merag were dancing in an hall of the castle, looking tenderly at each other, and gently brushing their bodies together. Merag sighed and rested her head on his chest, with Durbe looking down at her.

In another place that yet again looked like a bar, Nash and his family, along Polari, looked at the two Emperors dancing with other Varian couples. «They are the literal Knight and Princess of Earth's fairy tales.» said Polari. «Does Earth have fairy tales about Knightesses and Princes?» asked jokingly Kodak, Nash's son. He had blue skin, sky-blue hair shaped like inward-pointing teeth, blue eyes, a small crown, and a short orange cape. Polari (more or less) smirked deviously. «Why you ask? Do you happen to have a secret love-story with a female warrior? That's sooo romantic!» Kodak death-glared at her cousin. «What?! Shut up, that's no true!»

Eria giggled at her son bickering with her cousin. She looked up at her husband, still keeping under observation her sister. She grabbed his face, and turned it towards her. «C'mon Nashie, stop watching like a hawk that poor Durbe and dance with me like everyone else.» she said as she dragged him towards the other couple. «H-hey, wait a minute!» complained the supreme leader. «Come on dad, lighten up!» said Kodak before standing up suddenly. «Sorry Polari, I need to... mind my own business.» he said, walking away.

**. . .**

Back to Heartland City, the band had switched to a slower song, and the Tsukumo spouses had decided to dance. Holding their hip and hand, they were staring in each other's eyes. Then, Yuma closed his eyes and dipped down, kissing her deeply. After a few seconds, he pulled back and smirked as he rested his head against hers. «What about we now go to somewhere private... and we... you know...» Kotori tilted her head and looked at him, mildly annoyed yet amused. «Yuma...» The man chuckled. «What? I heard making love the night before doing something enhances the performance...» He slowly traced her neck with his mouth, burying his head in her crook. «...and tomorrow I want to be at my peak condition... and did I mention that tonight you're damn sexy...» Kotori just sighed and rested her head against his. «You're really a flatterer when you want to...»

At the table, Yuko was boringly looking some of her cards placed in front of her. Suddenly, her D-Gazer started beeping, so she fished it out of her pursue and accepted the call. Kodak's face appeared on the lens. «_Hey Yuko._» The young woman instantly lit up. «Tryga!»

The view switched to Kodak looking in a Varialite crystal that projected Yuko's face. «I'm sorry I can't be there to keep you company, but dad is watching over me and Aunt Merag like a very sly bodyguard.» Yuko giggled at the comparison. «I bet that if I'd try to teleport away, he'd be immediately at my heels. Anyway, how it's going there?» Yuko huffed. «_The music is nice, but without someone to dance with, it's deadly boring._» «Same here. Listen, I can't promise you anything, but I'll try to show up and watch your Duels.»

Back to Heartland, Yuko was smiling. «Really? Thank you, I can't wait!» «_KODAK! Where are you hiding?!_» yelled a voice that made the prince look annoyed. _«Sorry, I must hang up. See you soon!_» he said before the video feed went blank

Back to the Varian World, Kodak shut off the crystal, just in time before Nash popped out from behind the corner, followed by a pouting Eria. «Kodak, what are doing here?» The boy scratched his head. «I-uhm-was getting some fresh air.» Nash looked at him suspicious. «Kodak, Varians don't breathe, and also, we're in a corner in the mid of the palace.»

**. . .**

«Interesting. Very much has changed during these 30 years.» murmured Don Thousand. The white-hooded man, standing in a point of the balcony where he could monitor Yuma, pulled out a card glowing with a pinkish-red hue. «Tsukumo... very soon you will know what a life of despair feels like... losing everything...» He stared at him own hands, which started to glow faintly, with the same color as the card. «And with my new powers... this time... I'll make sure it will happen for real!»

The music slowly subdued and the lights turned off when the mayor appeared from the balcony. «Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! I would like to thank you for participating at our party!» A screen appeared behind him, showing 8 faces. Among them, Yuma, Yuko, Thomas, the white-hooded man. «This year, we have exactly 8 finalists! The best one among them will win a place in the Japanese National Qualifiers, and then in the Planetary Finals!» The screen switched to a map of Japan, then to a photo of the Earth.

«Who will be the best Duelist of planet Earth? Obviously, the favourite is our famous fellow citizen, Tsukumo Yuma!» A spotlight illuminated the Duelist in question, who was smirking. The hooded man growled faintly. «As everyone probably knows, ever since he defeated the former champion Fudo Yusei, he gained the title of Duel King, and never was defeated! But who knows, maybe this year he will be overshadowed by his own blood!» The spotlight moved to Yuko, much to her surprise. «This year, his daughter Tsukumo Yuko, the prodigious Duelist Girl capable of rivaling any other male colleague in the past months! A woman skilled in the art of Duels as one not seen since the times of the great Pro Duelist Tenjoin Asuka!» By this time, Yuko was smirking like her father.

«Will she outdo her own father? We will see tomorrow, at the awaited finals! Good night, and may luck smile at the best Duelist of our city!»

* * *

**So... get ready for the rush of Dueling stuff :D  
**

**And yes, I like to make small nods to past series ^^ (despite not having seen them yet -.-)  
**


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